1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for electronic presentation, in which multiple displays are available for viewing by one or more of a plurality of users of the system. Furthermore, the invention relates to permitting notes to be displayed on one or more of the multiple displays, while remaining hidden from the other displays.
2. Description of the Related Art
In known presentation systems, a speaker often uses a series of slides to present graphic materials to an audience, via a projector or other video presentation device. Oftentimes, the slides are accompanied by comments relating to the slides by the speaker. The speaker may use notes, annotations, or the like. These notes are usually readily available to the speaker, and may consist of an annotated version of the graphic materials.
More recently, with advances in computing and related software, users can create a presentation using software, so that slides or other graphic materials are available in electronic format. Further, it is known that computers, such as a notebook or laptop computer, may be connected to a presentation device so that the electronically stored presentation may be displayed to an audience. One drawback in such a system is that the speaker cannot view his notes at the same time as the presentation materials on the computer. One suggestion to remedying this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,480, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein. In that patent, the inventors disclose displaying notes in a control window which is part of the display screen of the computer. However, problems exist in that the control window is relatively small, and the notes are not overlaid over the slide, as would be the case with handwritten notes on a printed slide.
Also, with the advent of the Internet and videoconferencing, remote users can simultaneously view a presentation at remote locations. Again, the same problem exists that a presenter cannot view presentation notes on the same display as the presentation.